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Merck

P1379

Sigma-Aldrich

TWEEN® 20

viscous liquid

Synonym(s):

Polyethylene glycol sorbitan monolaurate, Polyoxyethylenesorbitan monolaurate

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About This Item

CAS Number:
MDL number:
UNSPSC Code:
12161900
NACRES:
NA.21

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description

non-ionic

Quality Level

Assay

>40% (GC)

form

viscous liquid

mol wt

~1228

composition

lauric acid, ≥40% (balance primarily myristic, palmitic, and stearic acids)

concentration

≥40.0% (GC)

technique(s)

DNA extraction: suitable
RNA extraction: suitable
cell culture | mammalian: suitable
protein purification: suitable

impurities

≤3.0% water

refractive index

n20/D 1.468 (lit.)

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General description

Tween®20 is a polyoxyethylene sorbitol ester that belongs to the polysorbate family. It is a nonionic detergent having a molecular weight of 1,225 daltons, assuming 20 ethylene oxide units, 1 sorbitol, and 1 lauric acid as the primary fatty acid. The ethylene oxide subunits are responsible for the hydrophilic nature of the surfactant, while the hydrocarbon chains provide the hydrophobic environment. Sorbitol forms the backbone ring to which the ethylene oxide polymers are attached.[1]
Tween® 20 is a nonionic surfactant and detergent widely applied in biochemical and life science research. Its predominant use involves the solubilization of membrane proteins during the isolation of membrane-protein complexes. Moreover, it serves as a component in various washing, blocking, dilution, and stabilization buffers. Additionally, it functions as a reagent for immunohistochemistry, encompassing techniques like Western blotting and ELISAs. In these applications, Tween® 20 plays crucial roles such as preventing non-specific antibody binding, minimizing background staining, and ensuring the even distribution of reagents.

Surfactants, possessing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components, fall into two main categories: ionic, which ionize in water (anionic, cationic, or ampholytic), and nonionic, which do not ionize. The discussed product is a nonionic surfactant with diverse applications such as emulsification, dispersion, solubilization, and detergent use. Additionally, it can serve as a solubilizer for membrane proteins.

Application

TWEEN 20 has been used as a component of:
  • washing buffer and blocking buffer in Western blotting[2]
  • blocking buffer in immunohistochemistry[3]
  • washing buffer in ELISA (enzyme linked immunosorbent assay)[4][5]
  • reaction mixture in PCR (polymerase chain reaction)[6]
TWEEN 20 is a nonionic detergent widely used in biochemical applications. It has been used as an emulsifying agent for the preparation of stable oil-in-water emulsions. TWEEN 20 has been used in pre-extraction of membranes to remove peripheral proteins (used at 2% for extraction of membrane-bound proteins).
TWEEN 20 has been used as a blocking agent for membrane based immunoassays at a typical concentration of 0.05%. TWEEN 20 can be used for lysing mammalian cells at a concentration of 0.005 to 0.5%.
Non-ionic detergent

Features and Benefits

  • Highly versatile surfactant for your life science and biochemical research
  • Excellent solubilising, dispersing and emulsifying agent
  • Suitable for DNA & RNA extraction, mammalian cell culture, and protein purification

Packaging

P1379-1KT:
Each kit contains 3 x 100ML samples, each sample from a uniquely manufactured lot.

Preparation Note

TWEEN 20 is miscible in water (100mg/mL), yielding a clear, yellow solution. It is also miscible with alcohol, dioxane, and ethyl acetate. TWEEN 20 is insoluble in liquid paraffin and fixed oils.

Other Notes

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Legal Information

TWEEN is a registered trademark of Croda International PLC

Storage Class Code

10 - Combustible liquids

WGK

WGK 3

Flash Point(F)

527.0 °F - Pensky-Martens closed cup

Flash Point(C)

275 °C - Pensky-Martens closed cup

Personal Protective Equipment

dust mask type N95 (US), Eyeshields, Gloves

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Ethylene and carbon dioxide production by developing strawberries show a correlative pattern that is indicative of ripening climacteric fruit.
Lannetta PM et al
Physiologia Plantarum, 127.2, 247-259 (2006)
Gene expression and immune response kinetics using electroporation-mediated DNA delivery to muscle.
Gr?nevik E et al
The journal of gene medicine, 7(2), 218-227 (2005)
Polysorbates 20 and 80 used in the formulation of protein biotherapeutics: structure and degradation pathways.
Kerwin BA
J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci., 97(8), 2924-2935 (2008)
Use of tRNA consensus primers to indicate subgroups of Pseudomonas solanacearum by polymerase chain reaction amplification.
Seal SE et al
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 58(11), 3759-3761 (1992)
Thomas Beuchert Kallehauge et al.
Scientific reports, 7, 40388-40388 (2017-01-17)
Recombinant protein production coopts the host cell machinery to provide high protein yields of industrial enzymes or biotherapeutics. However, since protein translation is energetically expensive and tightly controlled, it is unclear if highly expressed recombinant genes are translated as efficiently

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Protocols

This page shows how to solubilize membrane proteins with products from Cytiva.

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